What Chinese language is easiest to learn?

We would recommend you to start learning Mandarin first since it's said to be easier to learn and then build up to Cantonese.


Is Mandarin Korean or Japanese easier?

Which language has the easiest grammar out of Japanese vs Korean vs Chinese? The grammar of Chinese is certainly much easier than it's Korean and Japanese counterparts!

Is it easier to learn Cantonese or Mandarin?

Cantonese is by far the more challenging of the two languages, particularly for a beginning Chinese language learner. This is because there are more tones used in Cantonese (Cantonese uses up to nine tones, whereas Mandarin only uses four).


What is the hardest Chinese language to learn?

Mandarin Chinese

Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the writing system is extremely difficult for English speakers (and anyone else) accustomed to the Latin alphabet.

Which Chinese language should I learn?

So this is why, as a foreigner, Mandarin is the only Chinese language worth learning, if you can speak standard Mandarin as a foreigner, young people will understand you in every part of China, and increasingly so in Hong Kong where Mandarin is increasingly being taught alongside Cantonese and English in schools.


Learn Chinese in 30 Minutes - ALL the Basics You Need



Which version of Chinese is most spoken?

Mandarin. This is the group spoken in northern and southwestern China and has by far the most speakers.

What level of Chinese is fluent?

For the higher levels of HSK 5 and 6, there is no official 'pass' score required. Officially, HSK level 6 is 'fluent'.

Is Chinese harder than Japanese?

Well, they're equally foreign to English native speakers. The writing system, the grammar, and the vocabulary will mostly be completely new knowledge. But, the one major difference between Japanese and Chinese is pronunciation.


How long does it take to learn Chinese?

According to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) scale, it will take English speakers 88 weeks (2,200 hours of active learning) to reach native/bilingual Chinese proficiency. Chinese is one of the 5 languages which is most challenging to learn for native English speakers.

What is the top 3 hardest languages to learn?

Let's explore the 10 hardest languages for English speakers to learn, and the challenges they deliver:
  1. Mandarin. Mandarin is spoken by 70% of the Chinese population, and is the most spoken language in the world. ...
  2. Arabic. ...
  3. 3. Japanese. ...
  4. Hungarian. ...
  5. Korean. ...
  6. Finnish. ...
  7. Basque. ...
  8. Navajo.


Can a Chinese person understand Cantonese?

Despite both being tonal languages, they are not mutually intelligible. This means that while Cantonese speakers would be able to decipher Mandarin writing, they would not be able to understand the spoken language, and vice versa. Why is this?


What are the top 3 languages spoken in China?

What Are The Most Popular Languages And Dialects?
  • Mandarin. If you've heard of one Chinese language, there's a pretty good chance it's this one. ...
  • Standard Chinese. ...
  • Cantonese (Yue) ...
  • Xiang (Hunanese)


Can a Mandarin person understand Cantonese?

Mandarin. Therefore a Mandarin-speaker and a Cantonese-speaker would be able to write letters to one another with minimal difficulty. However, the two languages are distinct when spoken. Mandarin speakers typically cannot understand Cantonese speakers, and vice versa.

Should I learn Korean or Chinese first?

Relatively, Korean would be an easier language to learn. Thanks to its phonetic alphabet and more simplistic grammar rules, Korean is not the most challenging Asian language to learn. Chinese on the other hand is much more widely spoken. This means that finding study materials and practice partners would be easier.


Should I learn Chinese or Japanese first?

If you're interested in learning Japanese with anime, J-pop, or because you love Japanese food and culture, then the choice is easy. On the other hand, for those interested in Chinese history and how it shaped many other Asian cultures, learning Chinese would be a great way to gain more insight.

What is the easiest language in the world?

15 of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers - ranked
  • Frisian. Frisian is thought to be one of the languages most closely related to English, and therefore also the easiest for English-speakers to pick up. ...
  • Dutch. ...
  • Norwegian. ...
  • Spanish. ...
  • Portuguese. ...
  • Italian. ...
  • French. ...
  • Swedish.


What is the best age to learn Chinese?

What age is best for you (or your kids) to start learning Chinese? A general consensus is that in order to develop a native accent easily, children should start learning Chinese before the age of 12.


Can you self learn Chinese?

Self studying Chinese online can seem exceptionally difficult! But it's not impossible! You can still make good progress or successfully maintain your current level, even from home. There are dozens of free and affordable ways to self-study Mandarin Chinese online.

Is it too late to learn Chinese?

If you are middle-aged or north of your thirties, you may think that it is too late in your life to learn a new language. But the truth is, it is not too late, even for a language as difficult as Mandarin. It is never too late until you are dead.

Is Korean or Chinese harder?

Generally speaking, we might assert that Korean is easier for an English speaker to learn than Mandarin Chinese. But this is very relative. In fact, the US Foreign Service Institute assigns Mandarin Chinese and Korean the same level of difficulty. Both languages are in “Category Four”.


What is harder French or Chinese?

We drew parallels between Chinese and German, French, Spanish, Italian and even English and we discovered that not only is the pronunciation of Chinese much simpler than French, but its grammar is also more straightforward and easy to learn than German, Spanish, Italian and English.

Why is speaking Chinese so hard?

It's all about the tones!

Mandarin operates with four different tones, meaning that the way that you say a word can give it four different meanings! It is this tonality – this pronunciation – that causes most trouble for nearly all new speakers and makes Chinese a difficult language to master.

Can Chinese learn at 40?

Abigale: Of course not. Some of our students are 80 years old and are still learning Chinese. They study very hard, which also inspired us. It's never too late to learn!


How many Chinese words should I learn a day?

750 Mandarin Words Are the Daily Use Words

750 words is about how many different words your average person says per day, so you could call these 750 the Mandarin “daily use” words.

Can you learn Chinese in a year?

However, to become fluent, experts estimate that it'll take 2,200 class hours. If you put the rest of your life on hold and focused only on studying Chinese – at 5 hours of practice a day, it would take you 88 weeks.
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